From crashing out of the world cup
in 2007 to lifting the same cup in 2011 to facing white wash in the 2012 Australia series, India has seen it all. Once being
afraid to even walk into their own houses due to fear of being pelted by eggs
and tomatoes by the frenzied Indian crowd to proudly marching up the roads of
India after being crowned the world champions, team India has gone through so
much. When analyzing the performance of the team in the past four years it is
sad to note that a drastic dip in form of the top three bricks of Indian
cricket. Though the team has been performing consistently inside the sub
continent, their temperament and consistency when it came to performing in the
other continents is dismal. The bouncy and fast wickets outside the
subcontinent make it difficult for the Indian batsmen and bowlers to cope. The
younger generations are not being trained to face these fast pitches which will
create a big hole in the future of Indian cricket. Bounce was never India ’s strong
point and when faced by tantalizing fast bowlers like Starc, Dale Steyn,
Harris, Stuart Broad, they falter and give up. The integrity that the Indian
team once had is missing and this makes it even more difficult for them to come
back after a humiliating defeat. Once a strong team and the team to defeat, India now looks
vulnerable. Who should be blamed for this drop in India ’s form? Should it be the
present coach of the Indian cricket team Duncan Fletcher or the out of form
Captain M.S.Dhoni?
When Gary Kirsten took over as coach
after India ’s disastrous
world cup in 2007, he methodically corrected every aspect of India ’s performance; he showed them
what it feels like to win. He was a silent spectator, never seen in the spot
light. He gave importance to improving the team’s performance drastically. He
was seen enjoying each player’s performance in the side lines, silently taking
down notes for improvement. When his tenure as the coach came to an end and
when he decided to go back to South
Africa to at last spend time with his
family, there was a slight doubt arising in the minds of the people if the
successor would be able to pull of the quality of team that Kirsten gave us.
Duncan Fletcher took over and India
began to feel the pain of losing Gary Kirsten. The integrity which was the
greatest strength of the team went missing. The selectors started panicking
seeing the sudden dip in the form of the team’s performance. Though they showed
sparks of victory here and there like the success against West Indies in West Indies in May 2011 immediately after Gary Kirsten
stepped down, there were no real signs of epic victory. The two other victories
that came during Fletcher’s tenure was also inside India
where team India defeated
the west indies in the ODI and test series and England in the ODI series. The inconsistency clearly leaves one question
in all our heads: will the team rise again?
Aishwarya Kumar.
No comments:
Post a Comment